Gaza Rally, Melbourne

Had a photowalk with J last Sunday. Since we just finished church, we decided to go around in the city. Little did we know that there was a Gaza Rally right at our doorstep: at the state library.

I've never been to a rally before (and neither would I like to), but being to one gives you some of the best street shots ever, so its a thumbs up from me.

I'm experimenting with black & white in with photoshop actions again, as I've thought that too much colours would distract from the 'essence' of the image. equipment, as always is the E-3 and 35-100 wide open.

a lady selling clothes. she had a natural expression while listening intently to the speeches.

a mum instructing her young son how to wave a flag

pamphlets were liberally distributed, containing website addresses of 'behind-the-scenes-material' and a palestinian 'victory song'

some of the 'volunteers' giving passersby extra information

J managed to take this shot of a child holding up her hands as instructed by her grandfather - probably to show how innocent children are in these dreadful times. i shall be braver in the future and request for shots instead of waiting for opportunities in the background.

and this is her grandfather, an imam with a stately appearance. He thought we were from the Singaporean press, but anyway allowed us to take his picture.

this kid was probably staring at me and wondering what a massive lens i've got. He continued looking at me, so I didn't hesitate to get a few more shots of him. he has such an intense stare.

ESP metering sometimes doesn't work in this situation, so i opted for spot metering to bring out shadow detail at the expense of losing background detail

someone pointed out that perhaps i should take down the pics of the placards on my FB due to the nature of the other pics that i take, so i'm posting them here. i take no political sides however, but I do condemn violence. i'm just showcasing these images for the enjoyment of other people out there.

spotted these 2 ladies discussing their placards

another dad asked his daughter to pose for j. wished she was looking at me, though

once the parade started, people were already marching down swanston street. spotted this SBS reporter and quickly knelt behind the videoman for this shot.

the huge mass of people meant dividing the march into several sections. these are the main guys shouting out the chants using a hailer which sounded something like this - "US, Israel, how many people are you killing tonight?"

some jihadi wanabees

kids always make captivating material

after the rally turned left at bourke st, we continued our way down swanston, only to find a flying trapeze school doing their outdoor demonstration at a city square

ready, set..

go!! i'm a sucker for heights, so i don't think i can do these acts, as much as I'd like to

this girl was climbing up the ladder and looked straight at me. good thing i was prepared
on a side note, while we were walking away, she screamed at such a loud pitch that it could be heard right on the main street.

i shall blog about the midsumma festival and pre chinese new year festivities in a later post.